Shoots100

With the new thermal, It won't need to cross the creek. I didn't mention that I went to use my old Pete Rickards rabbit squealer call and found that the reed + holder were missing. That mouth call and the E caller has been a good combo for taking down coyotes over the decades. I bought it at Rickards store in cobleskill. That bummed me out worse than not getting a shot at the coyote. SJC

I went out with my brother and his brit yesterday for the last day of grouse season and like all of the other times we went out in NY, no grouse or even a shot taken. Pathetic year hunting grouse in NY state. I decided to do some coyote hunting at a pc of land on the way home and while I didn't get anything, I did have one coyote come in after a calling duel. Only he wouldn't come past the creek that was just under 200 yards away between us. Just kept walking side to side for about 50 yards in each direction, Howling and barking the whole time, but just wouldn't step over that creek. If I had my pulsar Thermion XP38 scope, I would've taken a poke at it, but all I had is my older spectre thermal and it's sighted in at 50 yards. The coyote trotted away and on my way out, it decided to start howling again, but I decided to live and let live, as it was getting near midnight and I was tired from walking the woods all day. That coyote will be taking a dirt nap when I get my new pulsar thermal. SJC

I also took a walk in the woods this weekend and like you, saw a lot of deer sign and nothing to aim at. We scouted some new DEP and State land that we plan on deer hunting this year, so the walk was worth it, even though my brother twisted his knee pretty bad. I was so tired from hiking in the deep snow, I didn't even think about doing any predator hunting in spots where we saw a lot of fresh coyote tracks around a deer carcass. Next time, when the snow melts.

When I hunt in the woods with a thermal, I spot with white hot and have the rifle scope set on black hot. You can focus a lot better using black hot in the woods after you've spotted the target, especially with snow on the ground and the clarity of the thermal scope you have. SJC

Manuals are reloaders cook books. Manuals and word of mouth was all we had back in the day. If someone blew up a gun, you knew to drop down a few grains. The Google is your friend, but too much info can also be a hindrance. There are so many variables in the load process, manufacturers can only give the info with a use at your own risk understanding. Like all things in life, technological advancements have improved reloading components over time too. I remember when there was only a few powder and bullet manufacturers available. Now you have so many choices, it's just to much sometimes. SJC

Over the years, powder manufacturers have changed their powder recipes, as some were very temp sensitive or burned really dirty. Now those same powder's either burn slower or faster and can't be used in some of the cartridges they were used in before. The OAL with any cartridge will effect it's CUP , so a more compact OAL will result in more pressure, hence the lower powder charge for the shorter cartridge OAL. Always be on the safe side and start low and work your way up. If you don't have a chronograph, get one. It's good to follow books, but a chronograph will let you know whats what and let you dial in a load. Also remember that if your loading on the max side in the colder months, you'll be above max during the warmer months and vice versa. Speed is nice, but an accurate mild load will be easier on your brass and weapons. Good luck, SJC

It's too bad that your first foray into night vision was with an ATN product. I was hoping your scope would be an anomaly, but ATN's track record has been worse than a crap shoot. Hopefully you'll try again at a later date, with a NV scope that has a better track record. I have four friends with Wraith scopes and all of them are killing animals. Practice makes perfect and they all have put hours in shooting their rifles at night to mitigate their misses. Now go out there and put that Nikon to use. SJC

Night or day, no matter what the outcome, It's good to get the younger generation out in the woods and into some action. Your spoiling them using a thermal, but maybe that'll get them out another time with you.

It's frustrating, but the only way to know, is to use it. Try to replicate what you did to make it freeze up. If it happens again, your going to have to send it in for replacement. Most have had no problems with the replacement. I read that the first gen 4K scopes had an issue holding zero, but not with the newer units and not with the newest firmware loaded. I've been there and am going through it again, but with a thermal scope not holding zero. Shit happens, even with expensive scopes. Hopefully your issues have been resolved and you get the wile e coyote. SJC

That looks like a great idea, but with the amount of anti's in this state, half the hunters would be brought up on trespassing charges and or issued tickets for harassing wildlife. We get our fair share on deer drives, but no more than 1/2 a dozen per year. We've been hunting the same area for over 30 years and have been seeing and hearing more coyote than ever.

I was hoping you ATN scope would be one of the 5% that wasn't screwed up. Make sure it has the most current firmware. If not, follow the instructions and from what I've read, it should fix your scope. I've Been there and accidentally ran over my ATN thermal. I wasn't so lucky to have been able to run over the X sight at the same time. How has your friends Wraith been holding up ? SJC

It has a USB-c port that'll charge it, as well as use for aux power. SJC

https://www.atncorp.com/power-weapon-kit Don't forget AAA batteries for the remote. Cold sucks the life out of everything. Good luck. SJC

I was hoping you'd get to shoot a coyote with your new scope, but it's also good your getting familiarized with it, so there will be no hesitation when the time comes to pull the trigger. It's amazing to see the animals you were probably missing, compared to hunting with the light. I had one day to get out afield during the cold spell and missed a shot at a nice sized dog that was hitting a bait pile. 100 yards, so it seemed like a done deal. Ends up my thermal is having some POI temp issues that I never noticed because I haven't taken a shot past 50 yards in a long time and haven't been out in the real cold too. I checked zero the next day and found it was almost a foot high and to the right, yet my recorded X/Y zero numbers never changed. I checked my mounts and found no issues. Looked Online and found that the scopes have been having POI temp issues, so i followed some other users instructions for testing it and found my scope was defective. Sent it back for an eval and hopefully like for you, a new scope will be in the cards for me in 2020. I just can't trust it anymore. Don't forget that your scopes are also good for the daylight too and you could spend some time at the range getting some trigger time, comparing daytime and nighttime performance. SJC

According to King Cuomo, Only killers use suppressors and yet his State Police force and other NYS police agencies use them. It's good to be king.

I was also going to say was this just a ball busting and I'm late to the party, Sorry. SJC

It's great that you've taken another hunter out in the field, but Please elaborate on this post ? You might've been ready, but it reads like he wasn't ready, or am I reading this post wrong ? I've been lucky to have been able to predator hunt all over the US for the last 40 years and have made plenty of mistakes along the way, so LOL away. And yes, I've been there. More than once. I've hiked into stands and when I set up, I found that I had no ammo, batteries, call's or caller or one night I left my young nephew crying (who had no flashlight) that stopped to tie his boots while I was fixated on stalking a dog. Two years ago, I accidentally ran over a $4,000 thermal scope with the ranger. That's something to LOL about. SJC

One major thing with predator hunting, is getting set up before you start calling. Getting set up in daylight is a breeze compared to nighttime and rushing at night makes it almost impossible and is super frustrating, especially when you miss. Situations like what you had is why I hunt alone 90% of the time. Rushing and trying to get the kill recorded has taught some dogs and me a lesson. Buy extra batteries for your NV gear and turn them on before you head out into the field, especially when it's colder outside. I put my XQ50 on standby, so it's ready to go with a push of a button. I have shuttered eye guards on everything else to minimize light exposure. Get a QD rear monopod for your rifle and that'll steady your shot's on the tripod. You might think your steady, but the recorded media doesn't lie. Nice work otherwise and it'll only get better with more time in the field to hone your skills. SJC

Sorry about the late reply. I built it on a left hand savage axis action using a 24" Criterion barrel and precision Lug + Nut from NSS. I built a 20 vartarg for a friend and while super accurate, getting 221 brass to form at the time was expensive. It was a super accurate round though and I caught the 20 bug. Since I had a plentiful amount of 223 brass, the 20 Practical was the choice for me. It was also the cheapest build I could afford at the time and it's super accurate. I didn't get to go out into the woods because of other obligations lately, but the next couple of weeks I'll be spending some time at local spots with the 9mm pcp rifle. SJC

I built a 20 practical (39 grn JHP going 4,200 fps) so I could hunt varmints during deer hunting season, but never saw a dog the two times I went out. Now that deer season is over, I'm hoping to get some action this weekend with the neutered big bore AR. SJC

If you can, You need to set up some pop up blinds and bait stations in the spot's you hunt. We scout the roads for road kill and any scraps of meat we can. Hit the butcher shops and supermarkets for scraps, worse they can say is no. SJC

I wish you weren't so far away, as we could do some hunting with thermal's. Of course, Once you hunt with a thermal and see what your missing, you'd sell body parts to get one. The pain isn't that bad and who needs two kidneys. I live in the lower Hudson valley and don't get many shots past 100 yards. I look forward to reading about a successful hunt while your out with your son, as I know most of the youth would rather be staring at their phone instead of being in the woods at night chasing coyote with their father. Good Job, SJC